Travel Tips from The Border

A Woman's Directory For Travel and Life.

Wave Journey is your one stop online resource for women oriented
businesses and services around the world.
Wave Journey is for every woman to enjoy. If you love to travel, cook, garden, read or revel in outdoor
activities this website is for you. If you are looking to connect with other like-minded women or if you are
interested in finding businesses or services that cater to women, Wave Journey is your number one online
resource.

TRAVEL TIPS FOR WOMEN
Tips for women by women.

Travel Tales From The Canada/USA Border - author prefers to remain nameless

WAVE Journey

Women's Adventures, Vacations, Experiences ~
Your Journey Starts Here!

More Travel Tips

Featured Travel Tips

Thought I'd share the joys of a recent excursion by car from Canada into the USA at the
Sumas/Huntingdon border crossing. As a Canadian living in a border town for the last 20 plus
years, I have probably spent most of my recreation time (hiking, skiing, shopping, vacations, going
for lunch or dinner, etc...) in Washington State (at Mt. Baker, Bellingham and Seattle). Better
skiing conditions, fabulous scenery, less traffic and close proximity have always been positive
draws. But, with the unpleasant experience(s) of dealing with US Customs at land border
crossings or in airports, it makes me wonder if visiting the USA is worth the effort anymore. Sumas
used to be a booming border town where most local Canadians would cross over (sometimes
daily) to buy gas and groceries, or visit Lone Jack's Bar for a burger and brew. There were
numerous bars and restaurants, retail stores, a couple of grocery stores and almost a dozen gas
stations. Now it is nothing but a ghost town that has reverted back to where it was probably 30
or more years ago. Why? Well, after 9/11 the couple of minute wait to cross the border became 2
or more hours, unpleasant and rude customs agents also became the norm, your ID was never
enough, and being sent inside and questioned became the thing to expect. So, we Canadians
lived with it, still entered the US (although not nearly as often) occasionally and spent our money
in the "Land of the Free".

Recently, I made the unfortunate decision to think it would be a nice couple of hours out, and a
change of scenery to drive 40 minutes to Bellingham and visit the Bellis Fair Mall. It was looking as
though it may be a quick and painless border crossing as there were only 3 cars in front of me in
the line. Wrong! The female customs agent was very unpleasant, rude, confrontational and
asked endless questions, including:

1) Where do you live? Abbotsford
2) Where are you going? Bellingham
3) What are you doing there? Going to the mall.
4) How long will you be gone? A couple of hours.
5) What do you do for work?   Travel consultant.
6) Is that like a travel agent? Sort of.
7) Why aren't you at work? I'm working later.
8) What time do you start? 4pm.
9) Until when? About midnight.
10) What are you going to do at the mall? Shop.
11) What are you going to buy? Maybe a pair of shoes.
12) Why are you shopping in the US? (That one stumped me) Sometimes there's nicer things than
in Canada...
13) Are you bringing anything into the states? No.
14) Are you meeting anyone? No.
15) When was the last time you were in the US? Last week.
16) How often do you cross the border? A couple of times a month.
17) Do you own the car? Yes.
18) Are you leaving anything in the US? No.
19) Why is your passport void? I am renewing it and the passport office voided it until I get my
new one in a couple of weeks - even though the date on it is good until the end of September.
20) Did they take your fingerprints? No (Fingerprints aren't required to get a Canadian passport).
21) Are you bringing any firearms or weapons with you? No.
22) Do you have any alcohol or tobacco on board? No.

So, then the customs agent fills out a form, gives it back to me stuck to my passport and tells me
to pull over and go inside. So, I pull over and go inside with my passport and her form. There I'm
questioned for about 20 minutes. At this point I just want to say "I've changed my mind. Sorry I
was stupid enough to think that I was welcome in your country, let's forget the whole dumb idea
and I'll just go home." But, no I keep my mouth shut and just fill in the Customs Declaration Form
(this is a first, I've only had to do that when flying into the US). The agent inside repeated the
same questions as the first agent, plus:

23) How much cash do you have with you? US$100 (Thankfully not much).
24) Do you have any prescription medication with you? My asthma inhaler.
25) Can I see it? OK - I show it to him and he records it on the Customs form.
26) Have you been on a farm? No.
27) Do you have anything poisonous with you? No.
28) Do you have any business items? No.
29) Are there sales at the mall? I don't know.
30) Is there anything in the car that is illegal? No.
31) Is there anything in the car that can or will hurt me? No.

So, then I'm directed to take a seat and wait while the Agent goes out to search the car. I did ask
if there was a problem or if they needed a different form of ID to verify who I was. No, my void
passport was just fine. It was just my lucky day to be interrogated. From the start of speaking
with the first Customs agent until I was finished was more than 30 minutes. Another woman who
was just trying to meet a friend for lunch ended up in tears and was taken into a separate room
for further questioning. I wonder if she will bother with the border again.

I understand that times have changed and everyone is a criminal until proven otherwise, but it's
getting to be a bit much and hardly worth the effort. So, I drove about 15 minutes along the road
toward the mall and was so put off by the whole experience that I turned around and went home.

I guess the message respectable Canadian women are being sent is: "Enter at your own risk".
For me, I think if it's going to be this much hassle, I'll spend my time and money on the Canadian
side of the border, where I'm welcome.